What can a bronze Han dynasty horse tell us about status anxiety and the afterlife? Ching-Ling Wang of the Rijksmuseum talks of grave matters
Plus: France signs lucrative culture deals with Saudi Arabia and Sotheby’s cuts more than 100 staff around the world
The Dutch artist’s floral paintings might look merely decorative but, as curator Bernd Ebert explains, they encapsulate a world of economic and scientific change in the early modern Netherlands
A chance to see how artists from Southern California and elsewhere are engaging with the climate emergency and ecological imbalance
Knowledge can be toxic, as this selection of killer manuscripts from the collection of the Walters Art Museum demonstrates
James Tissot’s gimlet-eyed depictions of women’s lives and fashions in 19th-century Paris and London are celebrated in Toronto
The Hammer Museum honours the artists who have poured blood, sweat, tears or other unusual substances into their work
Plus: Jasleen Kaur wins this year’s Turner Prize; and Vancouver Art Gallery scraps plans for new Herzog & de Meuron-designed building
The rockstar-turned-artist revels in her solitude and shuts the door to everyone except her dog when she’s in the studio – which is also her flat
Plus: Rotterdam becomes first Dutch city to return colonial objects to Indonesia; and City of London votes to close Smithfield and Billingsgate markets for good
